Athens barber shop razed by fire

In this Monday, Feb. 29, 2016 photo provided by Rodney Linderman, flames shoot from an upstairs floor of a Main Street building in Athens, Ont. (Rodney Linderman via Newswatch Group)

ATHENS – A Main Street barber shop – a mainstay in the community for nearly five decades – has been destroyed.

Flames started shooting from an upstairs floor of Blair’s Barber Shop at 5 Main Street in Athens, Ont., northwest of Brockville.

The call came into the fire department around 9:30 a.m this morning (Monday).

The owner of the shop, Blair Chant, is said to be devastated at losing his business but wants to set up his shop again in some capacity.

No one was home in the upstairs apartment but the tenants reportedly lost a family pet – a cat – to the fire.

The cause of the fire is undetermined.

In this Monday, Feb. 29, 2016 photo provided by Rodney Linderman, Athens Township firefighters tackle the flames from the second storey of a barber shop on Main Street in Athens, Ont. (Rodney Linderman via Newswatch Group)

In this Monday, Feb. 29, 2016 photo provided by Rodney Linderman, flames shoot from an upstairs floor of a Main Street building in Athens, Ont. (Rodney Linderman via Newswatch Group)